Russian general denies war games with China are dry run for attack on Taiw

[CHIMO]

The visiting chief of staff of Russia’s army yesterday denied reports that planned Russian-Chinese military exercises are meant as practice for a Chinese attack on Taiwan, saying the activity is not directed at any third country.

During meetings with Premier Wen Jiabao and other Chinese leaders, General Yuri Baluyevsky said that the exercise is intended to build strategic ties between the former Cold War rivals.

He dismissed as “pure fiction” reports by Russian media that the exercises in Zhejiang, a coastal province near Taiwan, were a rehearsal for an invasion of Taiwan, the self-ruled island that the Beijing government claims as its territory, and insisted the exercises are not “against any third country”.

The international community’s predicament – disliking the law but not wanting to offend China – appears to have created a deafening silence. The US dubbed the law unfortunate, but then on Thursday declined to propose a motion criticising China at this year’s UN human rights commission.

http://www.sundayherald.com/48473